Cucumbers: This is it for our cukes! The plants are yellowing and production has severely slowed. We will try to get everyone cucumbers this week, but if we can’t, not to worry! Sweet peppers are coming on, so we will substitute those instead 🙂

Parsley: We are happy to be putting herbs on your table for the third week in a row! This Giant Italian parsley is super dependable, abundant, aromatic, and tasty. Here’s a picture of Zack and Berenice bunching and washing it in the packhouse:

Sweet Corn: Last week we gave you Luscious sweet corn (very sweet!), and this week you will be receiving either Luscious again, or Candy Mountain (sweet). Other silly-named varieties of corn we have grown at SIO in the past include Temptation, Sugar Pearl, Sugar Baby, and Sugar Buns (my favorite name). Here at SIO, we love corn-picking days; it’s the perfect raw snack for us to munch on at break or lunch. It’s also great grilled, or sautéed with other summer veggies. If you want to make an easy vegan sweet corn ice cream, shave the kernels off and freeze them, and then put them in a food processor with some frozen coconut milk. Yum! This will be the final distribution of corn for the ear, so cobble it up!

A lot of folks took Monday off for the eclipse, but those of us who stuck around to work (thanks everyone!) took a half hour to hour long break to watch its peak. The farm was a great place to be while the moon passed in front of the sun. Berenice and I were harvesting parsley from 9-10am when the light grew progressively dimmer, the air chilled, and the birds became restless and flew to their sleeping places. Here are some pictures taken by Rachel (who brought homemade eclipse cupcakes to share with us) while we all watched the eclipse together:

Year after year, August is always the craziest month at the farm. We are still seeding and transplanting (not for long, though!), pigweed remains our main competitor, restaurant orders are through the roof, our ‘hot crops’ need consistent attention, the irrigation schedule is tight and never ending, and we are tired farmers. But our team is great, we love working together, and we are proud of the delicious food we grow and the sustainable manner in which we grow it. We are also very grateful for you and your appreciation of our work and delight in our veggies, so thank you! The eclipse Monday provided us (and probably many folks) with a much needed respite, allowing us to slow down and cherish the beauty of the universe, the earth, and our lives.